Jack Kingston: “I think what we want with welfare reform is a program that has a work requirement, if you are able to work, a program…”

“I think what we want with welfare reform is a program that has a work requirement, if you are able to work, a program that lets States have flexibility, because in Georgia we are going to do it differently than you do in Arizona, different than in New York City and San Francisco, and that is the way it should be. Let us decide how we are going to deal with our poverty. Give us some guidelines, but give us the flexibility that we need, and then there is that illegal immigration component. We do not want money being used to attract people to come to America just so that they can enjoy the public benefit. Then finally, as the gentleman from Michigan said, you want to have a component in there that does not reward irresponsibility, particularly when it is not age appropriate for 16 and 15-year olds to be parents. Mr. Speaker, we are coming to a close. I do want to say on the subject of welfare reform and all of the things that are going on in my hometown, Savannah, GA, where there is a group called the Chatham Citizen Advocacy led by a good friend of mine, Tom Kohler.”